Thread-guide setting device for straight-bar knitting machines

ABSTRACT

A primary switch of a control circuit is closed to energize a motor and clutch to drive a carriage for relocating positive stops limiting travel of one or more thread guides and to energize a signalling device. The carriage and thread-guide stops are precisely positioned automatically by interposition of a preset blocking member between the source of a light beam, magnetic field or air jet of the signalling device and its signal receiver to open a secondary switch in the control circuit and thereby affect instantaneous deenergization of the motor and clutch and actuation of an auxiliary lock to prevent overtravel of the carriage on its feed screw. Alternatively, the clutch may be disengaged by a photoelectric counter responsive to the angle of rotation of the feed screw. Several signalling devices and receivers may be mounted on the carriage and connected in parallel to open sequentially secondary switches in the control circuit, in which case the primary switch is a sequential or stepping selector switch.

United States Patent Niestroj et a1.

[451 Mar. 21, 1972 [54] THREAD-GUIDE SETTING DEVICE FOR STRAIGHT-BARKNITTING MACHINES [72] Inventors: Heinrich Niestroj; Hans Tille, both of1ngolstadt, Germany [73] Assignee: Schubert & Salzer MaschinenfabrikAktiengellschatt, lngolstadt, Germany [22] Filed: Feb. 1, 1968 [21]App]. No.: 702,302

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Feb. 2, 1967 Germany ..Sch 40168[52] US. Cl ..66/l26, 66/125 [51] Int. Cl. ..D04b 15/52 [58] Field ofSearch ..66/l25, 126, 127, 89, 70, 76,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,586,205 2/1952 Cobert..66/l26 3,019,626 2/1962 Blood ..66/89 3,141,316 7/1964 McCarthy....66/154 3,252,306 5/1966 Bentley et a1. ..66/89 3,262,286 7/1966Bentley et a1. ..66l89 3,324,685 6/1967 Schmidt et a1. ..66/154 X3,327,499 6/1967 Schmidt et al. ..66/l54 X Primary Examiner-RonaldFeldbaum Attorney-Robert W. Beach [57} ABSTRACT A primary switch of acontrol circuit is closed to energize a motor and clutch to drive acarriage for relocating positive stops limiting travel of one or morethread guides and to energize a signalling device. The carriage andthread-guide stops are precisely positioned automatically byinterposition of a preset blocking member between the source of a lightbeam, magnetic field or air jet of the signalling device and its signalreceiver to open a secondary switch in the control circuit and therebyaffect instantaneous deenergization of the motor and clutch andactuation of an auxiliary lock to prevent overtravel of the carriage onits feed screw. Alternatively, the clutch may be disengaged by aphotoelectric counter responsive to the angle of rotation of the feedscrew. Several signalling devices and receivers may be mounted on thecarriage and connected in parallel to open sequentially secondaryswitches in the control circuit, in which case the primary switch is asequential or stepping selector switch.

23 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTEDMARZI I972 SHEET 1 BF 5 ATTORNEYPATENTEUMARZ] I972 SHEET 2 OF 5 lll l l QNN A Wok/YE Y PATENTEHMARZII972 3,650,127

sum 3 OF 5 INVENTORS HEINRICH lY/ESTFOJ HANS 77115 BY MA. 124

A TmP/YEY PATENTEDMARZ] m2 3.650.127

SHEET 0F 5 IN V EN TORS BY W/ TW ATTORNEY THREAD-GUIDE SETTING DEVICEFOR STRAIGHT-BAR KNITTING MACHINES In the manufacture of garmentcomponents on a straightbar knitting machine, particularly themanufacture of fullfashioned components in which the width transverselyof the knitting frame is nonuniform, it is necessary to provide meansfor setting the thread-guide to the proper location for the desiredwidth of pieces to be knit at the beginning of the knitting operationfor each successive component. Such setting of the thread-guide has beenperformed mechanically by positive settable stops, chain and sprocketadjustment or cam surfaces, for example, to locate the thread guideaccurately relative to the outermost needle to be operative at thebeginning of the cycle for knitting a particular garment component.

If identical components are to be knit consecutively, it is merelynecessary to return the thread guide to the same initial position foreach component. If various dissimilar garment components are to be knitsequentially, such as the front, back and two sleeves of afull-fashioned pullover sweater, it is necessary to provide athread-guide position control which will selectively locate the threadguide for the particular one of the components to be knit in a givenstep of a multiple-step cycle.

In order to eliminate resetting of the thread guide by an operatormanipulating a hand crank relative to indexing means after completion ofeach component, various devices have been proposed or used employing aservomotor to reset the thread-guide-Iimiting means automatically.

One such device includes a carriage having a positive stop engageable bya microswitch carried by the thread guide. The carriage is repositionedby a feed screw driven by a servomotor When the microswitch is actuated,the circuit to the motor is opened. Because the switching mechanism isdependent on a mechanical switch actuation, the switching time cannot beprecisely determined. Also, because of the inertia of the motor shaft,overtravel of the carriage frequently results. In order to locate thecarriage precisely, a ratch stop is provided. A slip clutch has beeninterposed between the servomotor and the carriage in order to isolatethe inertial force of the servomotor from the positively-stoppedcarriage. With this known device controlled by a microswitch, it ispossible to adjust the carriage automatically only in one direction,that is, from a smaller to a larger working width.

A different known device permits automatic adjustment of thethread-guide stops in opposite directions. Shortly before the carriagereaches the final position a disk clutch is released by a microswitchclosed by the carriage. Closing of the microswitch actuates a relay toengage a cam follower roll with a cam. Such cam actuates a ratchet toterminate movement of the carriage upon reaching its proper position andto deenergize the servomotor. Simultaneously with the stopping of thecarriage an index bolt is engaged with a feed-screw lock to hold thecarriage to its proper position. Such a device does not stop thecarriage precisely because of the difficulty of adjusting the camaccurately for the amount of inertial rotation of the feed screw afterthe clutch has been released.

All of the previously known thread-guide setting devices have used limitswitches, the switching tolerance of which is not sufficiently preciseto effect the fine settings necessary to locate the thread-guide at aparticular operative edge needle location. In addition the influence ofthe inertial mass of the drive mechanism on the regulative distance ofthe carriage travel has not been sufficiently reduced.

Furthermore, neither of the devices discussed above nor any other knowndevice permits automatic presetting for programming of the thread-guidesetting mechanism for knitting a series of unlike pieces in succession,such as the four pieces required for a pullover sweater, namely, thefront, the back and two sleeves, nor can the four-piece cycle berepeated automatically.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide simple andeconomical mechanism for automatically positioning the thread guide of astraight-bar knitting machine at the beginning of the knitting cycle foreach garment component.

It is a companion object to provide such mechanism which will set thethread guide with greater precision than has been possible heretofore.More particularly, it is an object to prevent overtravel of thepositioning mechanism due to inertia of mechanical moving devices.

Another important object is to provide such setting mechanism which canbe preset to position the thread guide for the beginning of knitting ofsuccessive unlike garment components automatically in proper sequence.

It is further an object to provide setting means for quickly, easily andaccurately presetting the positioning mechanism corresponding to theposition of the outennost needle operative to begin knitting of a givencomponent, as well as corresponding to the size of such needle.

FIG. 1 is a top perspective of the thread-guide-positioning andposition-signalling mechanism.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of the control circuit for the mechanism shown inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic section through an alternate'form of signallingmechanism and FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic plan of another form ofsignalling mechanism.

FIG. 5 is a top perspective of still a different type of signallingmechanism including a diagram of the control circuit actuated by suchmechanism.

FIG 6 is an enlarged detail of a modified component of the signallingdevice shown in FIG. 1. 7

FIG. 7 is a diagram of a modified control circuit operable to effectsetting of the thread guide for the sequential knitting of unlikegarment components.

FIG. 8 is a diagram of a control circuit different from that shown inFIG. 2.

In principle the control mechanism of the present invention can be usedwith any known drives for limiting movement of a thread guide instraight-bar knitting machines, such as by relocatable stops chain andsprocket adjustment, or cam surfaces. The invention is described hereinin connection with a feed screw and carriage which is usually providedin straightbar knitting machines for setting stops limiting movement ofthe thread guide.

In FIG. 1 only the thread-guide setting device for the left side of theknitting frame is shown and described in connection with its controlmechanism. The setting device for the right side of the frame isidentical and may be operated by the same control mechanism or byindependent control mechanism of the same type.

A carriage 10 is mounted on feed screw 1 and a guide shaft extendsthrough the carriage to prevent its rotation about the feed screw. Onthe carriage 10 is mounted a bracket 101 for supporting one or morevertically adjustable stops 102. Such stops may engage or be engaged bya portion 103 of one or more thread guides to limit movement of suchthread guides transversely of the knitting frame. A sprocket 11 on thefeed screw 1 is driven through chain and sprocket 111 by shaft 112 onone side of dog clutch 115. When the clutch is engaged, shaft 112 isconnected to be driven by shaft 113 of the reversible servomotor 114.

A notched wheel on the feed screw shaft is engageable by a lock bolt 14having an end complemental to the wheel notches, such lock bolt beingnormally biased toward the wheel by spring 141. Wheel 140 and bar 14constitute a lock to prevent inadvertent rotation of the feed screw.Pawls l2 and 13 are selectively engageable with ratchet wheels I20 and130, respectively, to prevent rotation in a direction opposite thatselected by the control mechanism. Selective engagement of one or theother pawl with its ratchet wheel is effected by its cam disk 121 or131, which cam disk may be operated by the control circuit for motor 114 and clutch 1 15 or may be an independently-operated emergency brakefor the feed screw.

Also the pawls l2 and 13 may selectively engage with the ratchet wheelsI20 and 130, respectively. to actuate the feed screw I, the choice ofpawl being effected by means of its cam disks I21 and IJI, respectively.controlled by any known control device (not shown).

On the knitting machine frame 15 a track is mounted by spacers 154. Suchtrack supports signal-blocking member 16.

The track is calibrated so that the appropriate edge 160 or 161 ofblocking member 16 can be preset to interrupt movement of carriage in aposition corresponding to a given position of the thread guide relativeto the knitting frame. The blocking member is locked in its presetposition by a catch 162 received in one of the notches 155 in the sideof track 150.

A bracket 104 on carriage 10 carries a photoelectric cell 181 as anexample of means for receiving a nonmechanical signal. A further bracket18 on the carriage carries a light source 180 as an example of means forgenerating and emitting a nonmechanical signal, spaced above and locatedto direct a light beam onto photoelectric cell 181. The light source andcell, therefore, are fixed relative to each other, but are moved bycarriage 10 relative to track 150. The blocking member 16 has a tongue160, 161 extending beyond track 150 toward the carriage so that suchtongue can be interposed between light source 180 and photoelectric cell181 to block the light beam by movement of the carriage.

For purposes of illustration, it will be assumed that the knittingmachine is programmed to knit a particular garment componentsuccessively. Of which the left edge needle of the machine needle bed inits last row is closer to the knitting frame center than it is for itsinitial row of the previously completed component, so that the carriage10 would be located to the right of signal-blocking member 16. Theprogram for the knitting cycle would effect energization of the motor114 and clutch 115 upon completion of the garment component. The motorshaft would rotate in a counterclockwise direction as viewed from theleft of FIG. 1, as set by motor direction switch 19 on frame 15, to movethe carriage to the left toward blocking member 16. In this instance thelight signal from the source 180 would be interrupted as soon as theright edge 160 of member 16 is interposed between the signalling meanslight source and photoelectric cell components 180, 181.

If the carriage were to be moved toward the center of the machine needlebed, the carriage would be located initially to the left of blockingmember 16 and switch 19 would be set in its opposite position to reversemotor 114 for turning screw 1 in the counterclockwise direction to drivecarriage 10 to the right of FIG. 1. In this instance the left side 161of member 16 would effect interruption of the signal from light source180 to cell 181.

The control circuit for motor 114 and clutch 115 is shown in FIG. 2. Aprimary switch 2 is closed by a cam 200 driven by cam shaft 20 at a timecorresponding to the completion of knitting of one garment component.Such cam shaft would be actuated in accordance with the programmed cyclein a known manner. Closing'of switch 2 simultaneously energizes lightsource 180, clutch 115 and solenoid 22 for closing normally open switch220 to energize motor 1 14.

The signal means including light source 180 and photoelectriccell 181constitute a secondary switch in the control circuit acting throughamplifier 21 to maintain energization of solenoid 22 and clutch 115.Such secondary switch is closed by energization of light source 180 uponclosing primary switch 2. If motor 114 is driven in a direction to movecarriage 10 to the right as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 until the edge 161 ofblocking member 16 interrupts the light beam source 180, switch 180, 181is opened to deenergize clutch 115 and sole- I noid 22 to open motorcircuit 220, thereby stopping the carnage.

It would, of course, be satisfactory to mount the signalling device180,181 on stationary track 150 and to mount blocking member 16 oncarriage 10. Alternatively, the photoelectric cell and light source maybe mounted on the machine frame in horizontally spaced locationsdirected toward carriage 10 so that a light beam from the source 180would strike a reflector strip to be reflected onto cell 181. In thisinstance the secondary switch would be opened as soon as the reflectorstrip moves into a position to reflect the light beam onto the cell. Thelight source and cell would be relatively moveable so that the positionof the carriage in which the reflector strip actu ates the cell can bealtered. It would also be possible to locate one of members 180 and 181of the signalling device on the carriage and the other on the stationarytrack 150, in which case the secondary switch would be opened when thelight beam and the cell are shifted relatively so that the light beamshines on the cell.

If a limiting movement in both directions is to be made possible so thatthe carriage can likewise be moved either in one direction or the other,a second solenoid 22 would be connected in circuit with the first toreverse the polarity of motor 114 in a known manner. Alternate actuationof one or the other solenoid would be effected by moving double-throwswitch 19 shown in FIG. 1. Such actuation of switch 19 could be effectedmanually, or automatically such as by limit switches actuated by thecarriage in its extreme positions. Automatic reversibility of thecarriage 10 would be desirable, for example, to reset the carriage forlater operation.

In FIG. 6 a modified form of the signal-blocking member 16 is shown. Inthis instance slides 163 and 164 are mounted in a groove 165. Thepositions of the slides can be adjusted by sliding them in such grooveand then fixing their positions by bolts or set screws 166 in slots 167.Calibration 168 on the slides can be set relative to indexes on member16 to determine the proper location of the slides in their groove. Theprojecting ends of slides 163 and 164 rather than edges and 161 ofmember 116 would effect blocking of the light beam signal onto thephotoelectric cell. If desired, screws 166 may have eccentric shanks sothat the slides would be moved along groove simply by turning thescrews. Such auxiliary slides may utilize a scale having finercalibrations than the scale on track 150, or such slides may becalibrated for adjustment corresponding to the different needle sizes.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show alternative types of devices for receivingnonmechanical signals-which may be used in place of the photoelectricmechanism previously described, and companion devices for generating andemitting nonmechanical signals capable of being received by suchreceiving devices. In FIG. 3 a nozzle 24 directs an air jet intocylinder 240 for holding piston 241 in the upper position shown so thatthe free end of the piston rod 242 engages a switch arm 243 to hold itin engagement with the upper switch contact. When the air stream isinterrupted by the blocking member 16 spring 244 presses the switch arminto engagement with the lower contact to energize motor 114 and clutch115. The blocking member 16 could be mounted for movement with thecarriage if desired. Naturally with a corresponding formation of the airpipes, suction can be used to control the switch arm 243.

In FIG. 4 a split ring electromagnet 23 produces a magnetic fieldincluding an eddy flow adjacent to its ends. Closing of the primaryswitch 2 energizes the field-inducing winding 230 in place of lightsource 180. Current induced by transformer effect in the secondarywinding 231 closes the secondary switch of the control circuit. When theblocking member 16interrupts the eddy field 232, secondary winding 231is deenergized and the secondary switch is opened to deenergize themotor and clutch.

The light source, photoelectric cell and blocking member of FIG. 1 maybe replaced by a photoelectric counter such as shown in FIG. 5. A disk 3keyed to the shaft of feed screw 1 includes a circular row of apertures30. Preferably, the spacing of two adjacent aperatures corresponds tothe distance of two adjacent needles in a row transversely of theknitting frame, so that carriage 10 will move a distance correspondingto the. spacing between two adjacent needles while disk 3 is indexedbetween adjacent apertures 30.*

It is also possible to provide a greater number of apertures 30 being inan integral ratio to the number of needles. 7

A light source is located on one side of disk 3 and photoelectric cell181- is located on the opposite side of the disk so'that the light beamis directed parallel to the axis of rotation of the disk and is'spacedfrom such axis a distance equal to the radius of the circular row ofapertures 30. As the disk rotates with screw 1, the light beam to thephotoelectric cell is interrupted periodically to transmit signal pulsesthrough cell 181 and amplifier 21 to counter 216. The counter will inturn actuate the multiple-switch bank 217 to energize and deenergizeclutch 115 in accordance with a preset program stored in the counter 216by means of punch cards or magnetic tape, for example*.

Thus, the number of signal pulses caused by the rotation of the screw 1is a measure of the setting distance. It is therefore of no importancehow often the disk 3 rotates with the feed screw 1 during the settingot'the stops 102.

Instead of apertures 30, disk 30, disk 3 may have slits or peripheralnotches or reflector plates spaced circumferentially of the disk. In thelast mentioned case the light source 180 would be on the same side ofthe disk as cell 181.

The precise location of the apertures in disk 3 can be set to correspondto the spacing of the needles by providing a second disk adjacent to andcoaxial with disk 3, so that one disk is provided per setting direction.By turning the disk against the corresponding setting direction, theapertures 30, slits or peripheral notches are also moved in thisdirection and the interruption point for the setting movement ofcarriage is corrected.

Alternatively, the counter control device could be used with the signaldevice shown in FIG. I. In this case the blocking member 16 would beelongated and would have a serrated edge which would pass between thelight source 180 and cell 181 to produce the pulsating light signals tothe cell.

Carriage 10 can be actuated by the control circuit shown in FIG. 7 toset thread-guide stops 102 at the beginning of knitting of each ofsuccessive dissimilar garment components, such as a sweater front, backand two sleeves. In this case a machine operator could set all of thecarriage stops initially and the knitting machine could continue to knitcomplete sets of such components for garments continuously until thenumber of garments desired has been produced without further attentionby the operator. In this case blocking member 16 might be mounted on thecarriage and several signalling devices 180, 181 could be mounted invarious locations along track 150, for example. The number of signallingdevices would correspond to the number of components for a completegarment.

Alternatively, a number of sets of tracks 150, blocking members 16 andsignalling devices 180, 181 can be provided corresponding to the numberof components of the garment. The control circuit for such signallingsets is shown in FIG. 7. The primary switch for this circuit is afour-contact stepping selector switch 190, the contacts of which areconnected respectively to light sources 180, 183, 185 and 187.Photoelectric cells 181, 184, 186 and 188 are connected in parallel toenergize motor 114 and clutch 115 through amplifier 121. The four lightsources and cells move with the carriage relative to the respectivetracks 150, 151, 152, and 153 each time carriage 10 moves, but only oneof the light sources will be energized at a time corresponding to theposition of switch arm 190.

After the completion of one garment component, switch arm 190 would bemoved to engage the next adjacent contact to actuate the next lightsource in the series. After the four components have been made, switcharm 190 can be automatically reset to engage the first contact and thecomplete cycle can be repeated. The initial setting for the firstgarment component is made on track 150, the initial setting for thesecond component is made on track 151; the initial setting for the thirdcomponent is made on track 152; and the initial setting for the fourthcomponent is set on track 153. The multiple tracks and photoelectricsignalling devices could also be used to control a digital counter 216,such as described in connection with FIG. 5.*

So that only a complete set of components for garments can be preset,when the setting of the carriage 10 continuously occurs in the samedirection, in place ofa single switch 19 being provided in series withthe switch arm 190 there can be four switches connected in series withthe switch arm 190, in order to establish the desired setting direction.

Hunting mechanism for automatically correcting the carriage position incase of overtravel is shown in FlG. 8. Two photoelectric cells 181 and182 are mounted in carriage bracket 18 to be energized by the lightsource 180. In this instance, the servomotor 116 is energized by thedirect current sources 212. The polarity of field winding 117 for theservomotor is set initially by the double-pole, double-throw switch 215which switch can be controlled by the switch 19 shown in FIG. 1.Photoelectric cells 181 and 182 control a motor-reversing and shutoffmechanism 214 which, in turn, energizes and deenergizes or reverses thepolarity of amplifier 213 completing the motor circuit.

Switch 19 will be set to energize motor 116 to turn in the desireddirection for moving carriage 10 towards blocking member 16 when aprimary switch, such as switch 2 shown in FIG. 2, is engaged to closethe control circuit. Closing of the control circuit will effectenergization of light source 180, and motor 116 will be energizedsimultaneously to drive the carriage in the direction set by switch 215.

If the carriage carrying light source 180 and cells 181 and 182 isactuated by switch 215 to move to the right as seen in FIG. 8 towardblocking member 16 which is initially in the full-line position, theleft end of member 16 will first interrupt the light beam to deenergizecell 181 while cell 182 remains energized. Deenergization of one of thetwo cells 181 or 182 will effect deenergization of amplifier 213 andmotor 1 16.

If the inertia of the motor causes the carriage to overtravel beyondposition 16' indicated by dot-dash lines into the broken line position16", both cells 181 and 182 will be deenergized to effect reversal ofthe motor circuit polarity and reenergization of motor 116 to drive thecarriage to the left until it reaches position 16 and cell 182 is againenergized, at which time the motor will again be deenergized If thecarriage should again overtravel, this time toward the full-lineposition of member 16, so that both cells 181 and 182 are energized, themotor circuit polarity will again be reversed through the reversingaction of mechanism 214 and the motor energized to drive the carriage tothe left. This hunting process will continue until the carriage stops inan equilibrium position with the blocking member in position 16.

A similar hunting process could be effected by replacing blocking member16 with a counter 3, 30 such as shown in FIG. 5 and providing twophotoelectric cells 181 and 182. In this case the counting mechanism 3,30, 180, 181, 182 would be connected to operate a digital control formechanism 214 and amplifier 213 in which the actual travel of thecarriage would be compared to a programmed path.

In the forms of the present invention discussed above, a

clutch has been shown to be disengaged and thereby v eliminate theinertial effect of the motor contributing to carriage overtravel. Sincethe armature of the servomotor is the main source of inertial force whena control system for the motor circuit of one of the forms describedabove is used, provision of a servomotor armature having a very smallmoment of inertia could be used, such as a printed circuit motor or ashaded-pole motor in which case the clutch 115 could be omitted.

We claim:

1. In thread-guide setting mechanism for straight-bar knitting machineshaving a frame, a rotatable feed screw, thread-guide stop means, areciprocable carriage carrying the thread-guide stop means and movablerelative to the frame by rotation of the feed screw for locating thethread-guide stop means in a predetermined respective starting positionwhen starting knitting of each selected garment component in knittingsuccessively a series of garment components by the knitting machine,deenergizable drive means for driving the feed screw, and switch meansoperable to effect deenergization of the drive means, the improvementcomprising signalemitting means, signal-receiving means operable toreceive a signal from said signal-emitting means and operable bypredetermined alteration in the signal received to actuate the switchmeans for deenergizing the drive means, and control means movedautomatically in response to movement of the carriage to a predeterminedposition corresponding to the predetermined starting position of thecarriage and threadguide stop means to effect such predeterminedalteration in the signal received by said signal-receiving means as tocause the signal-receiving means to actuate the switch means fordeenergizing the feed screw drive means to stop the carriage andthread-guide stop means in such predetermined position.

2, In the setting mechanism defined in claim 1, the signalemitting meansbeing a light source and the signal-receiving means including aphotoelectric cell.

3. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 1, the control meanseffecting movement of the signal-emitting means and the signal-receivingmeans from a relationship out of registry with each other into arelationship in registry with each other to effect such predeterminedalteration in the signal received by the signal-receiving means.

4. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 1, mounting means mountingthe signal-emitting means and the signalreceiving means in relativelyfixed spaced relationship, signalblocking means receivable between thesignal-emitting means and the signal-receiving means, and the controlmeans including means for effecting relative movement between saidmounting means and said signal-blocking means in response to movement ofthe carriage and thread-guide stop means to effect such predeterminedalteration in the signal received by the signal-receiving means byinterposition of the signalblocking means between the signal-emittingmeans and the signal-receiving means. v

5. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 4, the signalblocking meansbeing carried by and adjustable relative to the frame, and the mountingmeans being mounted for movement conjointly with the carriage.

6. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 5, elongated track meansmounted on the frame and including calibrations along its length, thesignal-blocking means being mounted on said track means and adjustablerelative to said track means calibrations.

7. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 2, signalblocking meansincluding a disk mounted for rotation with the feed screw and havingalternate light-transmitting and lightblocking portions arranged in acircular row aligned with the light source and photoelectric cell,rotation of said disk relative to the light source effectingtransmission of pulsing signals to the photoelectric cell.

8. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 7, the signalreceivingmeans including programmed digital computer means connected to receivethe pulsing signals from the photoelectric cell and operable in responseto such pulsing signals to actuate the switch means.

9. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 8, the programmed digitalcomputer means including a plurality of programmed digital computers,and selector switch means operable to connect the photoelectric cell andsaid digital computers sequentially.

10. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 2, the signalemittingmeans including a plurality of light sources and the signal-receivingmeans including a plurality of photoelectric cells corresponding,respectively, to said light sources, a plurality of signal-blockingmembers interposable, respectively, between said light sources and theircorresponding photoelectric cells, an elongated track for each of saidsignal-blocking members, each of said signal-blocking members beingadjustable along its track independently of the adjustment of any of theother signal-blocking members, and selector switch means operable toenergize said light sources sequentially.

11. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 1, the signalemittingmeans including an air jet nozzle projecting an air jet therefrom, andthe signal-receiving means including a cylinder and a piston receivedtherein and located in the path of the air jet to be positioned in saidcylinder by the force of the air jet acting thereon.

12. In the setting mechanism defined in claim I, the signalemittingmeans including magnetic field-producing means, and the signal-receivingmeans including a coil in which an electric current is induced by themagnetic field produced by said magnetic field-producing means.

13. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 1, the deenergizable drivemeans including a motor and a dog clutch interposed between said motorand the feed screw.

14. In thread-guide setting mechanism for straight-bar knitting machineshaving a frame, a rotatable feed screw, thread-guide stop means, areciprocable carriage carrying the thread-guide stop means and movablerelative to the frame by rotation of the feed screw, ratchet wheelsrotatable with the feed screw, and pawls cooperating with said ratchetwheels for effecting intermittent adjustment of the carriage duringrunning of the knitting machine in opposite directions from a startingposition when starting a garment component to a finishing position whensuch component is finished and the machine is stopped for setting thethread-guide stop means by a continuous rotation of the feed screw tolocate the carriage in the starting position for the next garmentcomponent, and deenergizable drive means for the feed screw, theimprovement comprising means for generating a nonmechanical signal,means for receiving such nonmechanical signal when the starting positionfor the next garment component is reached by the carriage, and controlmeans operable by said means for receiving the nonmechanical signal toeffect deenergization of the drive means when the carriage has reachedsuch starting position for the next garment component.

15. In the thread-guide setting mechanism defined in claim 1, thesignal-emitting means including light-emitting means, and thesignal-receiving means including light-sensitive means.

16. In the thread-guide setting mechanism defined in claim 1, thesignal-emitting means including fluid stream-emitting means, and thesignal-receiving means including fluid pressure-responsive means.

17. In the thread-guide setting mechanism defined in claim 1, thesignal-emitting means including magnetic field-producing means, and thesignal-receiving means including magnetic field-actuated means.

18. In a fully-fashioned, multi-head, straight-bar knitting machineincluding fashioning means for shaping knitted garment blanks comprisingfashioning rails and selvedge control screw means for controllingmovement of said fashioning rails, the improvement comprising controlmeans for automatically controlling sequential knitting processes bycontrolling racking in and racking out of the selvedge control screwmeans, said 'control means comprising a movable member movablelengthwise of the selvedge control screw means and controlled thereby, apower source for driving the selvedge control screw means, means forenergizing said power source after each completed phase of a sequentialknitting process so that said movable member is moved by the selvedgecontrol screw means in one of two opposite directions to a new startingposition, a plurality of photosensitive cells, light source means forilluminating said. photosensitive cells, means for controllingillumination of said cells by said light source means, means formounting said cells and said illuminationcontrolling means so that onemoves conjointly with said movable member and the other is relativelyfixed, the relative movement of said illumination-controlling means andthe corresponding photosensitive cell varying the illumination of saidcell by said light source means, and electric circuit means responsiveto an electrical signal produced by varying the illumination of saidphotosensitive cells for controlling said power source to causetermination of movement of said movable member. t

' 19. The knitting machine defined in claim 18, in which the powersource includes an electric motor and an electromagnetic clutchoperatively connecting said electric motor and the selvedge controlscrew means.

dexes.

23. The straight-bar knitting machine defined in claim 18,

electrical circuit means for the photosensitive cells including aplurality of program selectors for the respective photosensitive cells,each of said program selectors having a control switch for determiningthe direction in which the selvedge control screw means drives a movablemember, and circuitselector means for selecting the proper controlswitch to effect movement of the desired photosensitive cell and in thedesired direction and to activate such desired photosensitive cell.

t i I k

1. In thread-guide setting mechanism for straight-bar knitting machineshaving a frame, a rotatable feed screw, thread-guide stop means, areciprocable carriage carrying the thread-guide stop means and movablerelative to the frame by rotation of the feed screw for locating thethread-guide stop means in a predetermined respective starting positionwhen starting knitting of each selected garment component in knittingsuccessively a series of garment components by the knitting machine,deenergizable drive means for driving the feed screw, and switch meansoperable to effect deenergization of the drive means, the improvementcomprising signal-emitting means, signal-receiving means operable toreceive a signal from said signal-emitting means and operable bypredetermined alteration in the signal received to actuate the switchmeans for deenergizing the drive means, and control means movedautomatically in response to movement of the carriage to a predeterminedposition corresponding to the predetermined starting position of thecarriage and thread-guide stop means to effect such predeterminedalteration in the signal received by said signal-receiving means as tocause the signal-receiving means to actuate the switch means fordeenergizing the feed screw drive means to stop the carriage andthread-guide stop means in such predetermined position.
 2. In thesetting mechanism defined in claim 1, the signal-emitting means being alight source and the signal-receiving means including a photoelectriccell.
 3. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 1, the control meanseffecting movement of the signal-emitting means and the signal-receivingmeans from a relationship out of registRy with each other into arelationship in registry with each other to effect such predeterminedalteration in the signal received by the signal-receiving means.
 4. Inthe setting mechanism defined in claim 1, mounting means mounting thesignal-emitting means and the signal-receiving means in relatively fixedspaced relationship, signal-blocking means receivable between thesignal-emitting means and the signal-receiving means, and the controlmeans including means for effecting relative movement between saidmounting means and said signal-blocking means in response to movement ofthe carriage and thread-guide stop means to effect such predeterminedalteration in the signal received by the signal-receiving means byinterposition of the signal-blocking means between the signal-emittingmeans and the signal-receiving means.
 5. In the setting mechanismdefined in claim 4, the signal-blocking means being carried by andadjustable relative to the frame, and the mounting means being mountedfor movement conjointly with the carriage.
 6. In the setting mechanismdefined in claim 5, elongated track means mounted on the frame andincluding calibrations along its length, the signal-blocking means beingmounted on said track means and adjustable relative to said track meanscalibrations.
 7. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 2,signal-blocking means including a disk mounted for rotation with thefeed screw and having alternate light-transmitting and light-blockingportions arranged in a circular row aligned with the light source andphotoelectric cell, rotation of said disk relative to the light sourceeffecting transmission of pulsing signals to the photoelectric cell. 8.In the setting mechanism defined in claim 7, the signal-receiving meansincluding programmed digital computer means connected to receive thepulsing signals from the photoelectric cell and operable in response tosuch pulsing signals to actuate the switch means.
 9. In the settingmechanism defined in claim 8, the programmed digital computer meansincluding a plurality of programmed digital computers, and selectorswitch means operable to connect the photoelectric cell and said digitalcomputers sequentially.
 10. In the setting mechanism defined in claim 2,the signal-emitting means including a plurality of light sources and thesignal-receiving means including a plurality of photoelectric cellscorresponding, respectively, to said light sources, a plurality ofsignal-blocking members interposable, respectively, between said lightsources and their corresponding photoelectric cells, an elongated trackfor each of said signal-blocking members, each of said signal-blockingmembers being adjustable along its track independently of the adjustmentof any of the other signal-blocking members, and selector switch meansoperable to energize said light sources sequentially.
 11. In the settingmechanism defined in claim 1, the signal-emitting means including an airjet nozzle projecting an air jet therefrom, and the signal-receivingmeans including a cylinder and a piston received therein and located inthe path of the air jet to be positioned in said cylinder by the forceof the air jet acting thereon.
 12. In the setting mechanism defined inclaim 1, the signal-emitting means including magnetic field-producingmeans, and the signal-receiving means including a coil in which anelectric current is induced by the magnetic field produced by saidmagnetic field-producing means.
 13. In the setting mechanism defined inclaim 1, the deenergizable drive means including a motor and a dogclutch interposed between said motor and the feed screw.
 14. Inthread-guide setting mechanism for straight-bar knitting machines havinga frame, a rotatable feed screw, thread-guide stop means, a reciprocablecarriage carrying the thread-guide stop means and movable relative tothe frame by rotation of the feed screw, ratchet wheels rotatable withthe feed screw, and pawls cooperating with said ratchet wheels forefFecting intermittent adjustment of the carriage during running of theknitting machine in opposite directions from a starting position whenstarting a garment component to a finishing position when such componentis finished and the machine is stopped for setting the thread-guide stopmeans by a continuous rotation of the feed screw to locate the carriagein the starting position for the next garment component, anddeenergizable drive means for the feed screw, the improvement comprisingmeans for generating a nonmechanical signal, means for receiving suchnonmechanical signal when the starting position for the next garmentcomponent is reached by the carriage, and control means operable by saidmeans for receiving the nonmechanical signal to effect deenergization ofthe drive means when the carriage has reached such starting position forthe next garment component.
 15. In the thread-guide setting mechanismdefined in claim 1, the signal-emitting means including light-emittingmeans, and the signal-receiving means including light-sensitive means.16. In the thread-guide setting mechanism defined in claim 1, thesignal-emitting means including fluid stream-emitting means, and thesignal-receiving means including fluid pressure-responsive means.
 17. Inthe thread-guide setting mechanism defined in claim 1, thesignal-emitting means including magnetic field-producing means, and thesignal-receiving means including magnetic field-actuated means.
 18. In afully-fashioned, multi-head, straight-bar knitting machine includingfashioning means for shaping knitted garment blanks comprisingfashioning rails and selvedge control screw means for controllingmovement of said fashioning rails, the improvement comprising controlmeans for automatically controlling sequential knitting processes bycontrolling racking in and racking out of the selvedge control screwmeans, said control means comprising a movable member movable lengthwiseof the selvedge control screw means and controlled thereby, a powersource for driving the selvedge control screw means, means forenergizing said power source after each completed phase of a sequentialknitting process so that said movable member is moved by the selvedgecontrol screw means in one of two opposite directions to a new startingposition, a plurality of photosensitive cells, light source means forilluminating said photosensitive cells, means for controllingillumination of said cells by said light source means, means formounting said cells and said illumination-controlling means so that onemoves conjointly with said movable member and the other is relativelyfixed, the relative movement of said illumination-controlling means andthe corresponding photosensitive cell varying the illumination of saidcell by said light source means, and electric circuit means responsiveto an electrical signal produced by varying the illumination of saidphotosensitive cells for controlling said power source to causetermination of movement of said movable member.
 19. The knitting machinedefined in claim 18, in which the power source includes an electricmotor and an electromagnetic clutch operatively connecting said electricmotor and the selvedge control screw means.
 20. The knitting machinedefined in claim 18, each of the photosensitive cells being mounted on amovable support means slidably engaged with a relatively fixed sliderail.
 21. The knitting machine defined in claim 20, fixed width-settingindexes in association with the respective photosensitive cells,including horizontally disposed calibrated rules and includingwidth-setting blocks individually adjustable along said rules, each ofsaid width-setting blocks having light-beam intercepting plate means.22. The knitting machine defined in claim 21, and brackets carried bythe fixed slide rail and carrying the width-setting indexes.
 23. Thestraight-bar knitting machine defined in claim 18, electrical circuitmeans for the photosensitive cells including a plurality of programseLectors for the respective photosensitive cells, each of said programselectors having a control switch for determining the direction in whichthe selvedge control screw means drives a movable member, andcircuit-selector means for selecting the proper control switch to effectmovement of the desired photosensitive cell and in the desired directionand to activate such desired photosensitive cell.